Stocking and method of producing a ravel trap



. IA/ H r Jan. 17, 1956 v. SKOLE 2,730,883

NC A RAVEL TRAP QQDII fig. 2. 0000000 NNNNNN OR Jan. 17, 1956 v. SKOLE I2,730,883

STOCKING AND METHOD OF PRODUCING A RAVEL TRAP Filed Feb. 21, 1952 2Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR V ggo JkoZe BY z 7 ATTORNEYS STOCKING AND METHODF PRODUCING A RAVEL TRAP Viggo Skole, Laven, Denmark ApplicationFebruary 21, 1952, Serial No. 272,842 Claims priority, applicationDenmark February 28, 1951 3 Claims. (Cl. 66-1t57) The present inventionhas to do with knitted stockings and more particularly to stockings ofthe kind that are knit in the form of a flat blank in a full fashionedor straight bar knitting machine, the edges of such blank beingsubsequently joined in a seam to close the stocking.

It is 'well known that in such stockings the tip of the toe is one ofthe places where wear and damage are most likely to occur, and it istherefore customary to provide a special toe reinforcement. Even if sucha toe reinforcement is provided, it is found, however, that the tip ofthe toe is still one of the most delicate parts of the stocking, and ifa damage occurs at this point, the wales may ravel in the whole lengthof the stocking so that the latter becomes destroyed or at any rate mustbe sent for repair.

It would therefore be desirable to prevent possible damages in the tipof the tee from propagating along the length of the stocking in the formof ravel wales, and it is the object of the present invention to solvethis problem in a simple manner without the employment of annoyingre-inforcements or stitch patterns in the toe portion and withoutcausing any delay in the knitting operation as Such or involving anyextra operation. With this object in view, there is provided, accordingto the invention, a short distance above the tip of the toe of astocking of the character described, a ravel trap in the form of tworows of interlock stitches diverging in a direction towards the tip fromtwo neighbouring wales in the form of a V.

It is a well known fact that the interlock stitches formed by theso-called widening or narrowing operations (also referred to asinterknitting motions and in the following sometimes referred to asoutward and inward transfer) by means of the narrowing points ortransfer needles form a ravel trap, i. e. are capable of stopping thepropagation of ravel wales, but in the case of interlock stitches formedby narrowing or widening in the usual way the running stitches may takea path round the inner ends of the rows of interlock stitches and inthis manner are capable of circumventing the latter. When, however, thetransfer operation is initiated from two neighbouring wales, so that theinterlock stitches close together at the middle of the stocking, asprovided for according to the invention, there will not be any middlezone through which ravelling may proceed, and accordingly, there isabsolute security against the extension of ravelling from any of thewales running into the mouth of the V to other parts of the stocking.

The invention also relates to a method of effecting an outward transferor widening starting from two neighbouring wales for the purpose ofproducing a ravel trap of the character referred to. It should be notedthat this ravel trap cannot be produced by the ordinary wideningoperation without any modification. The fact is that in the methodsheretofore in use, the widening or outward transfer-like narrowing orinward transferis always eifected symmetrically, i. e. the transfer iseffected simultaneously in both directions. However, if a transfer stepis effected simultaneously from two neighbouring wales,

2,730,883 Patented Jan. 17, 1956 "ice the thread lying between the twotransferred stitches will not be capable of forming new stitches so thatthere will be ,a lack of two stitches during continued knitting. Inorder to overcome this difficulty and thus to permit the transferoperation to be initiated from two neighbouring wales, i. e. at themiddle of the stocking, it is proposed, according to the invention,first to effect one transfer step in one direction only and then toeffect a transfer or wideningprogressively in bothdirections. Hereby itis obtained that in the first widening or transfer step, a ravel proofinterlock stitch is formed at one side in exactly the same manner aswhen the widening or transfer is initiated with a certain distancebetween the innermost transfer needles, and in the next followingtransfer step there is already one Wale present between the innermosttransfer needles so that there is now no difficulty in eifecting asimultaneous transfer in both directions without producing a loosestitch.

The known full fashioned or straight bar knitting machines cannot beused without modification to carry out the new method described. Thesemachines are provided with two transfer needle holders which by means ofcontrol members are symmetrically displaceable towards and away from oneanother so that by such displacement, in combination with an upward anddownward movement of the transfer needle holders, narrowing and wideningoperations may be performed. If a machine of this category were usedwithout modification, it would therefore not be possible to effect-aseries of transfer steps starting from the middle, or in other words,with the transfer needle holders lying close together, because alreadyin the first transfer step, the transfer needle holders would bedisplaced in opposite directions through a distance corresponding to thedistance between two neighbouring needles, whereby, as above described,there would be a lack of two wales during continued knitting.

The invention comprises means for making such a machine suitable forcarrying out the particular transfer operation according to theinvention without therefore interfering with the symmetry of thewidening and narrowing movements of the transfer needle holdersdesirable in the other phases of the knitting of the stocking. Accordingto the invention, the machine is provided with means adapted, in theposition of the transfer needle holders where these lie close together,during downward movement of the transfer needle holders to'establish aclearance between the control means and one of the transfer needleholders such that the latter will not take part in the widening movementnext following.

The invention will now be described in further detail with reference tothe accompanying drawing, in which Fig. l is a diagrammatic viewillustrating the toe portion of a flat stocking blank provided with aravel trap according to the invention,

Fig. 2 is a diagram of the stitch pattern adjacent the zone where thewidening or transfer operation for forming the ravel trap is initiated,and

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of a machine showing the more important partsof the transfer apparatus of a straight bar knitting machine for use inthe knitting of stockings having a ravel trap according to theinvention.

Fig. 1 illustrates how a ravel trap is formed in a stocking inaccordance with the principles of the invention, the ravel trapconsisting of a V-shaped row of interlock stitches 1 formed byprogressive widening or outward transfer starting from the middle of"the stocking, or in other words from two neighbouring wales so that thetwo legs of the V close together in the apex 2 of the V, therebypreventing the occurrence of a middle zone through which ravelling mightpropagate.

It will be seen that all the tip side wales running into the V areprevented from ravelling past the ravel trap so that a good security hasbeen obtained against the propagation of damages that might occur in thedelicate toe tip.

In the embodiment shown, the widenings forming the ravel trap arefollowed by a series of narrowings 3, whereby the stockings are narrowedat the tip to a smaller number of wales which are thereafter cut throughwhereupon the looping and the seaming are effected in the usual manner.However, it would of course also be possible to continue the narrowingpractically to the middle of the stocking so that firm selvages areformed practically converging into a point at the tip of the toe onlyleaving a few wales, Whereafter the knitting may be continued in thewidth determined by these few wales to form a tail such as described inU. S. patent application No. 113,376, filed August 31, 1949, now iatentNo. 2,648,210.

In Fig. 1, the toe portion, in which the ravel trap is formed, isdiagrammatically illustrated as being re-inforced by knitting withdouble or triple yarns, and while this is of course the preferredarrangement, it is by no means essential for carrying out the principlesof the present invention.

In Fig. 2, the two wales from which the local widening is initiated aredenoted by the reference characters 4 and 5. The lowermost course inFig. 2 represents the last course knitted before the widening isinitiated. It will be seen that in the next following course a transferhas been effected from the wale 4 to the neighbouring wale 6 at the lefthand thereof, whereas no transfer has been effected from the wale 5. Inthe next following course, a transfer has been made to the left from thewale 6 and to the right from the wale 5, and in each of the followingcourses, a transfer has been effected in both directions. As is seen inFig. 2, the direction of the wales is changed by the transfer, andravelling is rendered impossible owing to the interlock stitches formedby the transfer steps. The widening or outward transfer may be carriedout over a greater or smaller number of stitches and need not beeffected in each course as shown in Fig. 2. E. g. the transfer mighttake place in every second course which will ordinarily be the preferredmethod, but there may, if desired, also be any other intervalwithinreasonable limits-between the transfer courses. In all cases, stitchesstarting to run from the tip of the toe will only be capable of running,until they are stopped by an interlock stitch.

Fig. 3 shows an example of how a straight bar knitting machine may bemodified to be capable of effecting the transfer operation starting fromneighbouring wales at the middle of the blank necessary in order toproduce a ravel trap according to the invention. The machine illustratedis of the type having a number of positions for the simultaneousknitting of a plurality of stockings, the machine comprising guiding andcontrolling means common to all of the positions.

The drawing only shows parts of the transfer apparatus seeing that theother parts of the machine may be constructed in the usual manner. 7 and8 are two transfer bars extending in the whole length of the knittingmachine and each carrying a transfer needle holder 9 and 10 respectivelyin the zone of each position of the machine. Series of transfer needlesor narrowing points 11 are mounted in each of the transfer needleholders. 12 is a control arm serving to move the transfer bar 8 andthereby all the transfer needle holders 10 mounted thereon one way andthe other. A corresponding control arm, not shown in the drawing, servesto move the transfer bar 7 and thereby all the transfer needle holders 9mounted thereon one way or the other. Moreover, the whole of thetransfer apparatus, of which the transfer bars form part, is movable upand down. To perform a narrowing or a widening step, the transferapparatus is first moved down whereby the transfer needles are caused tocatch the stitches from the stationary needles of the machine, not

shown, whereupon the transfer apparatus is moved upwards, and thetransfer needle holders are displaced in the direction of the transferbars to an extent such that when the transfer apparatus is again moveddown, the transfer needles deliver the stitches to the stationaryknitting needles at a displacement corresponding to the distance betweentwo needles.

The control arm 12 and the corresponding control arm for the transferbar 7 are adapted to carry out symmetrical movements and, in the knownmachines, are directly coupled to one and the other transfer barrespectively so that the latter are also moved symmetrically. Thus, thetwo transfer needle holders will e. g. always perform an outwardtransfer movement in opposite directions at the same time.

According to the invention, the machine has been so modified that in theposition of the transfer needle holders where these are situated closetogether-in which position the machine as ordinarily constructed wouldnot at all be capable'of working-a transfer operation in one directiononly may be effected so that a ravel trap accord 13. An adjustable screw15 having a head 16 abutting one side of the control arm 12 is screwedthrough one leg 14 of the bracket 13. A corresponding screw 18 having ahead 19 is provided in the other leg 17 of the bracket 13, butbetweenthe head 19 and the right hand side of the control arm 12 there isprovided a vertical slide bar 20 and a sleeve 21, the latter beingmounted on a pinshaped extension of the screw 18 extending through aslot of the slide bar 20. 'A vertical supporting bar 23 is attached tothe outer side of the leg 17 of the bracket 13 and carries an adjustableguide 24 for the vertical slide bar 20 and also an adjustable guide 25for a second vertical slide bar 26, the latter being further guided by aguide pin 27 mounted on the supporting bar 23 and extending through aslot of the slide bar 26. Each of the slide bars 20 and 26 is providedat its top with a head 28 and 29 respectively abutting opposite ends ofa rocking arm 30 rotatably mounted at the top end of the supporting bar23.

The slide bar 20 is constructed over part of its length with a thicknesssuch that this part of the slide bar together with the sleeve 21 fitstightly between the control arm 12 and the head 19 of the screw 18, thethickness of the slide bar being smaller over a lower portion thereof.The difference between the two thicknesses corresponds to the distancebetween two neighbouring needles.

At its bottom end the slide bar 20 is provided with a nose 31 having aninclined upper surface 32 for cooperation with an abutment 33 having aninclined lower surface 34, the abutment 33 being displaceably mounted ona block 35 adjustably mounted on a suitable support carried by the frameof the machine, the displacement of said abutment 33 being counteractedby a spring 36. The latter is wound around an adjustable screw 37carrying an abutment 38 for co-operation with a downwardly extending arm39 provided at the rear end of the abutment 33, so that the position ofthe abutment 33 in which it is held by the spring 36 may be adjusted bymeans of the screw 37.

Also the vertical 'slide bar 26 is constructed with a thicker and athinner portion and is provided at its bottom end with a nose 40 forco-operating with an abutment 41 mounted on the same support as theblock 35.

A spring 42 and 43 respectively is attached to each of the guides 24, 25and is constructed with a hook-shaped portion 44, 45 respectively whichis urged towards the side of the vertical sliding bars 20 and 26respectively.

The operation is as follows:

In all the ordinary phases of the knitting operation the transferapparatus operates as usual, the vertical slide bar 20 and the sleeve 21fitting tightly between the control arm '12 and the head 19 of the screw18 so that there is a positive connection between the control arm 12 andthe transfer bar 8. Consequently, the latter will accurately follow themovement of the control arm 12 which is symmetrical to the movement ofthe corresponding control arm serving to displace the transfer bar 7. Inthis manner, the transfer needle holders 9 and 10 are movedsymmetrically towards one another and away from one another exactly inaccordance with the movements imparted to the control arms. It isobserved that since there is no necessity of performing a one-sidedtransfer in more than one direction, the connection between the othercon trol arm and the transfer bar 7 may be constructed in the ordinarymanner using permanent and positive coupling means, but if desired, theconnection between the last named control arm and the transfer bar 7 maybe constructed similarly as the connection between the control arm 12and the transfer bar 8.

When the production of the ravel trap is to be started, the transferbars 7 and 8 are moved by means of their associated control arms in sucha manner that the transfer apparatus is moved down after the transferneedle holders have been moved to abutting position as described, thenose 31 of the vertical slide bar 30 strikes the abutment 33 whereby thebar 20 is displaced upwards relative to the transfer apparatus. Therebythe thin portion of the bar 20 will come into position between thesleeve 21 and the head 19 of the screw 18, and the bar 20 is held inthis position by the spring 42, the hook 44 of the latter engaging belowthe shoulder formed between the thicker and thinner portions of the bar20.

Hereby a clearance is established between the control arm 12 and thetransfer bar 8, and when the transfer apparatus has been moved down andup, and the control arm 12 and the corresponding control arm for thetransfer bar 7 are then displaced in opposite directions, the transferbar 8 will therefore not follow this movement, but only the clearancebetween the control arm 12 and the head of the screw 18 will beeliminated in this first transfer step. In this manner, a positive driveconnection is again established between the control arm 12 and thetransfer bar 8 so that subsequent transfer steps will be effectedsimultaneously in both directions as usual.

The abutment 41 is so located as to be struck by the nose 40 of the bar26 when the transfer or widening operation has proceeded to the extentnecessary for the desired width of the ravel trap. The bar 26, which byway of the rocking arm 30 was pushed downwards by the upward movement ofthe bar 20 relative to the transfer apparatus is thereby pushed up againwhereby the bar 20 is returned to the position indicated in the drawingby way of the rocking arm 30 so that the thick portion of the bar 20comes into position between the control arm 12 and the head 19 of thescrew 18. In this position of the bar 26, i. e. the position indicatedin the drawing, the hook 44 of the spring 43 engages below the shoulderformed between the thicker and thinner portions of the bar 26 andthereby prevents unintentional displacement of both of the bars 26 and20. The transfer apparatus has thus been brought in readiness foroperating in the ordinary manner.

It will be seen that the special means for establishing a clearance onlybecomes operative in the case of transfer operations directly from themiddle of the blank. In the case of other widening operations notstarting from the middle they will be inoperative, and the same appliesto narrowing. If the narrowing is continued to the middle of the blank,e. g. in terminating the toe, a situation may arise where the bottom endof the bar 20 will engage the abutment 33 from below upon completion ofthe last narrowing step. This is why the nose 31 and the abutment 33 areconstructed with inclined top and bottom surfaces respectively, and theabutment 33 is mounted for sliding movement against a spring force sothat this abutment may yield in this situation.

I claim:

1.. A knitted stocking comprising a ravel trap provided a short distanceabove the tip of the toe and consisting of two rows of interlockstitches diverging in a direction towards the tip of the toe from twoneighbouring wales.

2. In the knitting of stockings, a method of producing a ravel trapcomprising, after the knitting of a stocking blank, starting from theupper end thereof, has proceeded to the toe portion of the stockingblank, a Wale adjacent the center line of the stocking blank is firsttransferred outwards in a direction away from the said center line, andin a subsequent course a second Wale, which is next adjacent to thefirst mentioned wale, is transferred outwards in the opposite direction,while a second outward transfer movement is at the same time performedon the first mentioned Wale, and additional outward transfer movementsare then effected progressively in both directions so as to form tworows of interlock stitches diverging in a direction towards the tip ofthe too from the said two next adjacent wales.

3. A knitted stocking comprising a ravel trap provided a short distanceabove the tip of the toe and consisting of a plurality of rows ofinterlocked stitches diverging in a direction towards the tip of the toefrom a plurality of adjacent wales.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,708,160 Thierfelder Apr. 9, .1929 1,915,792 Kugelman June 27, 19331,926,522 Frietlmann et al Sept. 12, 1933 1,930,397 Sanderson Oct. 10,1933 2,001,370 Schindler May 14, 1935 2,035,960 Heinitz Mar. 31, 19362,077,835 Heinitz Apr. 20, 1937 2,273,675 Verbeek Feb. 17, 19422,304,053 Kaufman Dec. 1, 1942 2,421,473 White et a1 June 3, 19472,539,582 Illges et a1. Ian. 30, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS 161,398 GreatBritain Apr. 14, 1921

